“Yes, you do. I’ve had enough.”
“Then stop playing games.”
“I have. I’m done. I’m as guilty as you are of playing your damn games. I got sucked into them thinking I could outdo you. That was wrong.”
“Nobody can outdo me,” she said, finally meeting his gaze.
“I wasn’t wrong about outdoing you. I was wrong to be sucked into your games. I’ve had enough. I’m beyond ready for you to come home. Get your things and let’s go.”
Emmalyn’s expression was almost comical. Her eyes just about bugged out, her mouth hung open awkwardly.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m trying to determine if you have totally lost your mind, or if you’re serious. Because if you’re serious, I’m about to have to kick your ass. Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? And I am home, just to be clear.”
“My mate! That’s who the hell I’m talking to, and I’m tired of being ignored and disrespected. And home is with me, not here.”
“You’re the one who pushed me to this point. And now that I’m here, I find I kind of like it.”
“How the hell did I push you to pretending I don’t exist?”
“You’re the one that claimed me, then turned your back on me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did!”
“I did not! I didn’t bite you. Not even a single scratch from my teeth.”
“Oh, so having sex with me — repeatedly, I might add — wasn’t claiming me?”
In the bedroom, Bam shoved his fingers in his ears and started softly humming lalalalalalala.
“It was close. It should have been the night I claimed you. But I stopped when I realized that the moment I did, you’d just run back to Atlanta and leave me behind. I didn’t want that kind of pain, so I stopped short of marking you.”
“Then you threw up a wall to keep me out emotionally and physically. What the hell was that all about?”
“I was tired of playing with you, Emmalyn. I’ve wanted you since that first dance we went to back in high school. And you knew it. You used it against me, led me on and played your typical control freak games. So I let go.”
“You didn’t let go when I went to your house that night at Christmas! And I’m not a control freak!”
Barron shook his head. “Yes, you are. And no, I didn’t let go then. I wasn’t strong enough to push you away. I’m just a male, Emmalyn. My mate shows up at my home and throws herself into my arms, I’m not going to turn her away. I let myself believe for a little while that I could have everything I wanted, until I realized it was no more than your typical power play. You’d be leaving me as soon as the sun came up.”
“I wouldn’t have, though.”
“Yes, you would. You did! As soon as your break from work was over, you went racing out of here.”
“Because you were treating me like nothing more than a one night stand!” she yelled at him.
Barron rubbed the scruff on his chin and cheeks with both hands tiredly. Finally he focused on her again. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Emmalyn stepped back like she’d been shoved. “What do you mean?”
“How do you think I felt each time you denied me? Each time you’d shove me aside. Give me just enough to keep me wanting, then turn your back on me the moment I was hopeful again. It hurt, Emmalyn. You don’t treat someone you love that way.”
Emmalyn hadn’t ever really considered that Barron wasn’t strong enough to withstand her games, her power play, her insecurity as she fought her Bear and resisted trusting anyone enough to give them her whole heart. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, not ever. I was just trying to find my way.”
“And have you?”
